Background
Zuppke was born on July 2, 1879 in Berlin, Germany, the son of Franz Simon Zuppke, a jeweler, and Hermine Bocksbaum.
Zuppke was born on July 2, 1879 in Berlin, Germany, the son of Franz Simon Zuppke, a jeweler, and Hermine Bocksbaum.
In 1881 the Zuppkes migrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Robert attended public school and, for two years, Milwaukee Normal School. Skill at drawing and painting came to the fore in his school years, and he was a member of the art staff of the Milwaukee Normal yearbook in 1901. Zuppke then entered the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he earned the Ph. B. degree. He was too short and light to win a letter in football, but he played with the scrubs. In basketball speed and agility made up for lack of size, and he received his letter with a championship team.
After graduating in 1905, Zuppke spent a year doing commercial art work in New York City. He then took a position as athletic director and football coach at Muskegon (Michigan) High School, where he also taught history. Art continued to be of increasing interest, as indicated by his enrollment in a summer course at the Chicago Art Institute (1904). Zuppke's four years at Muskegon (1906-1910) determined the direction of his career. Going next to the high school at Oak Park, Illinois, he compiled a record so phenomenal that after three years the athletic directors of Northwestern, Purdue, and the University of Illinois all made him offers. Impressed by its athletic director, George Huff, he accepted a salary of $2, 700 a year and went to the University of Illinois as head football coach. His beginning season, 1913, was notable for the surprise scoreless tie to which Zuppke's players held powerful Purdue. Since Zuppke had no experience as a university coach, this feat attracted wide attention. In his second season Zuppke's team won the conference championship. Almost before the football world of the Middle West recovered from that shock, Illinois captured a second conference title in 1915. What went into the record books as one of the biggest upsets in football history was scored by "the little Dutchman's" team in 1918. Minnesota, which had defeated Chicago 49-0, Wisconsin 54-0, and Iowa 67-0, was turned back by Illinois, 14-9. Zuppke teams also won conference championships in 1918, 1919, 1923, 1927, and 1928. Zuppke was a persistent innovator. He either devised or contributed to the development of the huddle, the screen pass, the spiral pass from center, the "flea flicker" pass, and other plays and strategies. He was also credited with originating spring practice. Coaches throughout the country watched Illinois to see what its coach would come up with next. As a consequence a procession of brilliant football players converged on Champaign-Urbana. Harold ("Red") Grange, "the Galloping Ghost" of the 1920's, was the most spectacular among many. No other decade in Zuppke's coaching career was so successful as his first, when his teams took four titles in seven seasons. And when his teams were not in first place, they were regularly close to the top. Zuppke's last years as coach were controversial ones. Championships eluded his teams. A plan to remove him took form in 1938. He survived, but the athletic director, Wendell S. Wilson, was dismissed. In 1941 his team lost all its conference games. Just before the final game Zuppke announced his retirement. His twenty-nine-year record was 131 victories, 81 defeats, and 12 ties. His teams were recognized as national champions in 1914, 1919, 1923, and 1927. He chaired the $2 million campaign for the University of Illinois War Memorial Stadium (1922-1923). In 1942 he coached the All-Star Football Team. He died in Champaign.
Zuppke served as the head coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1913 until 1941, compiling a career college football record of 131-81-12. Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951, Zuppke coached his teams to national titles in 1914, 1919, 1923, and 1927. Zuppke's teams also won seven Big Ten Conference championships.
Zuppke often filled positions such as commissioner of sports programs at the Century of Progress Exposition at Chicago (1933-1934) and the New York World's Fair (1939-1940). He was president of the American Football Coaches Association (1924-1925).
Zuppke also was a writer. From 1930 to 1948, he wrote the syndicated newspaper strip Ned Brant, drawn by Walt Depew. During the 1930s, Zuppke also wrote syndicated sports-related columns. Zuppke never lost interest in painting. His landscapes and other works were exhibited in New York City, Chicago, Milwaukee, Toledo, Davenport, Iowa, and elsewhere. Arizona was a favorite setting, and he passed many happy hours putting its desert scenes and moods onto canvas.
Zuppke was married twice: on June 27, 1908, to Fanny Tillotson Erwin, who died in 1936; and on September 10, 1956, to Leona Ray.
